Chapter 3 - Gemma

There were no words that could measure up to the severity of my situation or describe how genuinely shocked I was.

Staring at him—gawking, really—while I tried to form the most basic of words, it simply wouldn’t happen.

While I knew the Levovs were notorious, I never could’ve anticipated that sudden turn of events. How I was either to marry him—a man I didn’t know beyond his name and the egregious actions of his family—or find myself missing just like the poor victims I studied for the article.

It was an impossible position, and while I was terrified out of my mind, something within urged me to stand my ground. To not fold or give in.

Even so, it was difficult to truly grasp the situation. Ben's proposal caught me off-guard even more than his good looks had the moment I laid eyes on him, and I didn’t have the background to understand how to handle it.

I swallowed hard, not averting my gaze from his more intense, dominant one that served as a hard pivot from his previous disinterest—or at the very least, his reluctance to figure out what I was there for.

Despite my fear and how much of a struggle it was to maintain my composure, there was no denying how gorgeous Ben was. Those blue-gray eyes were captivating, especially with his dark hair slicked back and out of his face.

He was built like a god, yet the fine material of his navy button-down clung to his somewhat slender waist. The size of his shoulders and biceps gave away the natural muscle concealed beneath the layers. There was something agonizingly beautiful and intense about him, almost like I was looking into the face of temptation itself.

But as those eyes seemed a touch colder while he flexed a new sense of authority over me within the private room, I felt like I walked myself into a wolf den, and there was no way I’d be able to leave unscathed.

As much as I wanted to blame anyone else, potentially even greater powers that be, I knew it was all my fault. It was my fault for ambitiously taking on that article for my internship and digging in deeper than what was required. I was the one who decided to give the Levovs the benefit of the doubt by showing them to article beforehand. At that moment, it was easy to realize the grave error I made.

Even in the face of his unshakeable intimidation and edge, I pulled in a breath and tried to steel myself against his attempt to force my hand. I returned his challenge with a glare of my own. “Your proposition is barbaric,” I muttered, leaning back in the chair as I crossed my arms over my chest with the slightest hope of putting a boundary between us. “I won’t marry you, and I can’t give up the article. It’s all I have.”

Ben continued to stare me down, narrowing his gaze somewhat. It was calculating and all-consuming, not leaving any room for me to try and escape it.

It was obvious he had many years of practice perfecting the silent demand in his eyes—a display of his intentions and how he didn’t plan to be outdone or undermined.

As I weathered that stare, I could feel pieces of my resolve being chipped away. Not by his expectant look but by how alluring he was. That tension stretched between us, sinking into my skin even as I tried to shake it off.

Those eyes were so intense yet intriguing, and if the circumstances had been different, I wouldn’t have minded the chance to get to know him. To be taken out properly, rather than being forced into something—forced to be his wife based on nothing at all.

Ben snickered as he settled back into his seat with an easy air about him, irritatingly nonchalant, as if my very life weren’t in the balance thanks to him. “Barbaric, huh?”

I didn’t even bother answering—not while I was on full alert and doing my best to maintain some sort of conviction. Although, even if he placed the options in front of me, given the resolve in his eyes, I had the feeling he'd already made his mind up.

“Well then,” he began, defusing the tension as he sighed and gestured with his arms as if I left him with no choice. “As a token of mercy, I guess I’ll pick for you.” An almost cruel smirk pulled the corners of his lips back. “I can see how ambitious you are, after all. I’d hate to see that quality go to waste.”

Brows furrowing despite how his words implied he’d rather spare me than kill me, I felt mocked by his words—throwing in my face how my drive and determination led me here. How while good qualities, they forced me to walk a tightrope between life and death.

Bristled, I forced myself to my feet and tried to head toward the door. “There are more than enough people out there. I’ll just yell for help—”

Before I could reach it, Ben was on his feet with an easy swiftness, forcing me back with his taller stature looming over me. I took frightened steps back until my back pressed against the wall, forced to look up at him.

The air was pulled from my lungs at once, and despite myself, I couldn’t look away from him.

“No, you will not,” he muttered, caging my body with his against the wall, face inches from mine with a wicked smirk. “Besides, nobody will hear you, little bird.”

Pinned by not only his body but the intensity of his gaze, I let go of a shaken breath that betrayed the deep fear that pulsed within me. I couldn’t find any words.

As if looking into the depths of my soul, Ben took me in completely and chuckled to himself. “Need I remind you that you’re in my territory, Gemma? Everyone here works for my family, and even if you scream or yell, nobody will bat an eye.” His smug look deepened at the catch of my breath. “Our influence encompasses many areas and facets, as you seemed to guess in your little article, which means nobody will notice if you disappear. Not even keen journalists like yourself. Your very existence would fade, and for what? The recognition of your name printed neatly beside this story?”

Whether he genuinely meant to offend, or if he was simply having fun playing with me, I narrowed my eyes at him, anger flaring beneath my skin for a moment. “Mock me and be as condescending as you want, but it’s easy coming from someone who has everything. You’re taking advantage of my good faith and willingness to seek your side of the story.”

Ben’s eyes zeroed in on me with a gleam of interest and amusement. “Your good faith landed you in this position in the first place. Don’t place all the blame on me when you were the one who waltzed in here, assuming you could publish a hit piece about my family. You came of your own accord.”

He was right, but even then, I didn’t want to admit it.

I was an idiot for even putting my neck out. That regret was bigger than anything else.

As Ben measured my obvious faltering beneath him, he looked between my eyes and my lips with an irritating smugness. He slipped the side of his finger beneath my chin and forced me to look at him directly.

“That being said,” he murmured, voice sounding like silk through his faint hum. “You can either cooperate and willingly walk out of here with me, or I’ll just take you by force. Your choice, Gemma.”

While my name on his tongue sent a strange shiver down my spine, finding a sense of satisfaction from it despite the circumstances, I couldn’t shake the fear as it gripped me like a vice.

I wanted to think I was strong enough to fight and refuse him, but as he exuded pure confidence and pinned me there like a helpless thing, I had the feeling he wasn’t bluffing.

Given the pieces I managed to collect of his family’s past, I had no doubt he was capable of horrible, unthinkable things. And if that was the case, I didn’t have any reason to believe he wouldn’t forcibly take me away without another word.

Despite the fear and panic in my mind, there was no denying how his effortless allure tugged at my heartstrings while he searched for any point of weakness. I swallowed hard and braced myself against the inevitable.

He was a Levov, and what the Levovs wanted, they got. That much was clear to me.